I really enjoyed this story! Terra's journey really spoke to recognizing that even when you feel powerless to your circumstances, you can always find a little unexpected power within yourself-and if you nurture that, it could turn into something magical.
*
That being said, I did have a few sore spots that I felt impacted my investment into the story.

First, it felt like the story actually had a really nice pace--until it came to the really crucial plot points. Then it felt like we just rushed through the most interesting parts. For example, after getting passed the bickering, Thorne just sort of announced that Terra was magical and she believed him so quickly. There wasn't even a full day where she needed to reflect and consider what he said. It felt a little off that she'd be on board so quick. I had the exact same feeling with the conclusion of the book, where Terra finding her way back to Thorne and being accepted as the ambassador could have had more exploration and conversation.

Another thing that bothered me was how comfortable her dad was with his daughter being missing then finding her knocked out on the ground right near a stranger who's also knocked out. I understand that she explains that she hit her head and he passed out from not eating, but as a parent I feel like I would have been so much more skeptical and concerned.

I also feel like the friendship between Terra, Brick, and Kate was a little weird. They were friends since preschool, but it felt like they never understood each other's motivations or how to communicate with each other.
*
Thank you so much NetGalley for this ARC and the opportunity to give feedback!

This was a really fun YA fantasy book. The story was fast paced and well written and it kept my attention the whole time. Would highly recommend!

I've only read one or two books that deal with golem lore, and so I was excited and interested to read this one. On the whole, I enjoyed it. It's a fun, YA adventure with an interesting magic system that managed to have a pretty well-developed romance without any of the spice that somehow keeps finding its way into the YA genre. At the same time, it relied fairly heavily on some standard tropes for its plot, so I could normally figure out what was going to happen and very little of the plot was an actual surprise. That lack of surprise and unpredictability is the only reason this has a lower rating.

I think this would be a great read for newer fantasy readers, especially younger ones who fit the YA target audience. It's a good introduction to the genre, but it won't be mind-blowing for anyone who is already comfortable with YA fantasy.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so gorgeously written and I was immediately sucked in. I loved the characters and the atmosphere Birch created and the book kept my attention the entire way through. Such a well done book!

"I don’t have to accept his inevitabilities. I can create my own."

Woven from Clay is a YA romantasy and is written to appeal to its target audience. Within the first few chapters Terra learns magic is real, there's a new bad boy in her classes, and he was sent to kill her. What sets Woven from Clay apart from the abundance of YA romantasy novels available these days is Birch's characterization of Terra. Yes, Terra is a high school senior in a small town, interested in the first guy who walks by that she hasn't known since kindergarten. However, Terra is also an adopted, anxious, perfectionist who is the captain of the debate team, top of her class, and pride of her school. Birch's examination of both Terra and Thorne as complex characters grounds the entirety of Woven from Clay.

First and foremost, Woven from Clay is fun. The back cover doesn't give Thorne enough justice - in the magical world, golems have no more rights than a trash can and are considered inanimate objects. Once Thorne realizes how horrifically wrong that assumption is (very early in the novel), the stage is set for Terra and Thorne to work together to prepare Terra for the coven's trials. There's a half-hearted mention of a love triangle, but this book is Terra and Thorne figuring out how to prove the entire magical world wrong. There's tension. There's silly games. There's a training montage. Terra unlocks abilities about herself that she never knew she had and continues to grow and hold as her own person. The secondary characters are fairly two dimensional, and don't get a lot of screen time, but that's okay because Birch makes sure that Terra is the star of the show.

I really appreciated watching Terra grow into herself over the course of Woven from Clay. Birch takes a moment to recognize that Terra has residual trauma from adoption and how that manifests into her being the competent person she is. The examination of the perfectionist and high-achiever tendencies, as well as how they were harming Terra, took an in-depth look at the "It Girl" in high school that I haven't seen in a while. Seeing Terra acknowledge her faults, but also work and grow into the self-confidence she needs to face and fight her own battles made me want to highlight so many quotes from the book. Terra takes her own destiny into her hands in Woven from Clay, and it's not the super powers that matter, but Terra herself.

Woven From Clay by Jennifer Birch didn’t quite live up to its potential. The story had an interesting premise, but I found myself struggling to stay engaged throughout. The pacing felt uneven, with sections that dragged on too long without adding much depth to the characters or plot.

While the writing itself is clear, it lacked the emotional resonance I was hoping for. The characters, though they had potential, never felt fully developed or relatable. Their motivations were often unclear, making it hard to connect with them on any meaningful level. The overall plot felt predictable, and I found myself anticipating the direction the story would go, which took away from the excitement.

Unfortunately, Woven From Clay didn’t leave the lasting impression I was hoping for. It has a lot of room for improvement, but ultimately, it didn’t fully deliver on its promise

Honestly, exceeded expectations and I would've ate this up as a middle school-high school kid.

The story follows a girl named Terra who, as far as she knows, is a normal (albeit, very successful, rule following, a-type) high school kid. A boy turns up and breaks the news that she's a golem created by a warlock. Ever wanted to turn into a puddle from embarrassment? WELL, Terra can!!!! Bet you've never read a book like this before! It's great! Ever had to prove your humanity to people who call you an 'it'?? Well, Terra has to!

The first third of the book is a bit slow, the set-up is a bit long, and the miscommunication trope lasts a bit too long as well. There could've been twenty less pages about how Terra is a normal girl and doesn't know anything. But once the plot has been set up, the story really picks up the pace and I was delighted to see how things went. I couldn't have guessed the endings, but I really enjoyed how everything got tied together for a satisfying conclusion. I really felt for these kids and I wanted the best for them.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC read!

This is a cute YA book surrounding magic and coming of age/growth. We meet Terra Slater who is your small town All-American girl next door. She learns that she is a golem and was crafted by a Warlock by mud and magic. This story takes us on her journey to prove her worth to a coven of Witches alongside Thorne Wilder, our esteemed tough hearted bounty hunter, to help save herself and those within her town.

Like most FMC's we watch grow into their role, we witness the same with Terra. She starts off unsure of herself and unable to see her greatness while those around her see it. We get to see her come into a strong role where she learns her worth and learns to cherish the things in her life she has often taken for granted. She comes from an adoptive background and grew up thinking she was not worth love. She often references her fears and feeling of abandonment.

I would recommend this book for a cute read in a world of magic that is outside the usual Fae and Vampire world we see most of these days.

*This book received 3 stars on my Goodreads because they refer to 3 stars as "liked it". In other review worlds I would likely give 3.5-4 stars.

2.75 Stars

The positives: I really enjoyed the world building and magic system, as it was pretty unique, and it was easy to follow the FMC’s magical journey. The story was relatively easy to get though and was mostly enjoyable.

I didn’t really care for the relationship between the two leads, especially the way Thorne treated her and talked to her when they first met. Yes, he went on a journey to change his views and see her as a person, which is the point of the book, but it I really disliked him in the beginning third of the book. At the end I also dislike the way he kept leaving her and not apologizing or really changing his behavior, when she’s expressed her fear of abandonment. I know he’s also dealing with the lies he’s believed his whole life but if they can’t properly communicate, it’s not a good foundation for a relationship.

The story started out a bit slow and I did feel the end was a little rushed. The final battle at the end and the aftermath felt like it ended and was “solved” so quickly. The ending also left me unsatisfied. I’m assuming the villain getting away and her new “job” at the end left the story open to have a sequel, but the story arcs of the main character felt completed for now and I was unsatisfied with how the villainous characters didn’t really face any consequences. Willow seemingly got away and she’s she was banished but it kinda felt like “that’s it? No other on-page consequences?” And don’t get me started on Jett. The way she mistreated the golems, especially Brick annoyed me to no end, especially when Marina was supposed to somewhat be her friend she has no qualms about her cruelty and mistreatment of the people she got to know at school. I would of loved to she her get to know Brick and change her mindset like Thorne, but she was cruel and bitter until the end. The dismissal that she was lied to by Willow, so that makes it okay for her to still have her position at the Guild and face no consequences for her mistreatment left a bitter taste in my mouth. I understand the author is trying to say that we should give people the benefit of the doubt to learn and change for the better, but unlike Quill or Thorne, Jett’s character had no actual growth or repentance to make getting away unscathed be a satisfying ending.

Thank you to Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Woven From Clay is a great standalone fantasy novel following a senior in high school as she navigates her newfound life as a golem and the coven trying to destroy her maker. I really enjoyed the fantasy aspect of the story. This was a fun intro to fantasy for beginners.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A teenage golem who doesn't know she is a golem. This is an awesome interpretation of Jewish myth and the author did a fantastic job of weaving the story together

woven from clay
rating: ⭐️3.5

🍰 ARC provided by @netgalley 🍰

this story follows a teenage golem who is unaware that she is a golem and a MMC witch bounty hunter searching for the warlock who created her. if the warlock who created her dies, so does she. she’s on a journey to save her creator and her own life and finds an unlikely ally on the way.

it’s a unique story and i’ve definitely never read a book with a golem main character! i really loved its concept but i found that the book had quite a bit of dullness to it. i wanted more action and drama and i felt myself dragging myself through the book at times. then of course, there was good parts too, parts that were so good it fueled me through the rougher ones. i think the writing style didn’t align with my form of reading and it maybe even felt a little too juvenile for me in its style. there was too many cliche/overused characters and plot points that i know sells nowadays but also makes a unique story like this watered down with what is in every other book.

overall, i did still enjoy this book. there was some good moral dilemmas to think about & some surprises that i didn’t expect. i would still recommend it as i think it is a pretty unique concept i would like to see more of!

I really enjoyed this book! It's definitely targeted towards younger teens, but I can see young adult readers and new adult readers (like me) still having a fantastic time in this story! I appreciated how we were thrown into this world. While the writing at the beginning felt short and awkward to me, I contribute that to the fact that this is a book targeting younger readers, and I'm using to the sentence structures in adult fiction. It took a minute go get used to the more concise writing style, but I was able to get past it pretty quickly.

Here's a quick plot overview with no ending spoilers! Terra is a high school girl who lives a pretty mundane life. She meets a stranger who tells her she's a golem. It quickly goes from a low-stakes high school story to a high-stakes (at least for a YA/teen book) that involves saving her community from a warlock. There is MAGIC (Jennifer does a great job at creating a unique magic system), LOVE, FAMILY, and FRIENDS that come together to create a truly immersive story.

Overall, this book was engaging and captured my interest. I love a fantasy that dives right into the plot, and this one did just that while leaving room for a potential sequel (please Jennifer Birch, give us a sequel!!). Because the main character learns about the magical world as the book progresses, we as the readers follow that same path - making discoveries along side Terra. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars, but I think if I was reading this as a teenager it would have been a 5-star read for me. Reading it as an adult, the shorter sentence structure took some time to adjust to and also the romance could have been flushed out a bit more, but that could also just be my preference! ARC received by Net Galley.

What a delightful read! I thoroughly enjoyed this YA Fantasy.

Let's start with the MCs. I really felt like Terra's thoughts/reactions were super believable. Like, a normal person in her situation would 100% react the same way! Also, the first person POV was so perfect for this story as getting to read all of Terra's thoughts was very immersive, to the point that I was feeling the same way as her for most of the book! I got nervous, excited, angry at certain characters, confused, surprised, hopeless/hopeful and, overall, very invested in the story. I liked Thorne as a character and seeing his growth was very cathartic. I am super excited to see more of his story if there is a future book!

The magic system was SO cool. Not only is it incredibly creative (I mean, how do you even come up with that?), but it is implemented into the story seamlessly. Not ever feeling clunky or forced, rather, the magic system is essential to the plot and we get to understand more and more of it as Terra does too. I thought the descriptions of the witches using their magic was so neat and so vivid 10/10 magic system.

The plot was great to me. I liked how Terra was understandably apprehensive (and maybe a bit repulsed) when she first learns what she really is, but it was so sweet to watch her slowly come to embrace and love who she is and how many of her friends also being golems helped shape her view of herself. Great themes of believing in yourself, standing up for what's right, and doing the hard thing. Really looking forward to more in this series!

I appreciate that this was a true YA book with no spicy content at all.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me the ARC ebook.

The book was so sweet and perfectly YA. Usually in fantasy books the main characters are oddly overpowered. I loved how it changed in this book. Talent may not be genius but sometimes we don't have to be a genius to win and be successful. The book showed how everyone is important and has the right to live. Loved it.

I love Golem stories but this...ain't it. Somehow the author managed to write a Golem story while stripping all of the integral Jewish elements from it.

the magic system was so innovative and unique, but everything else was kind of dull. it's very emblematic of early - mid-2010s ya supernatural romance. a "dark" and "mysterious" guy shows up to the fmc's high school and starts yelling at her, "tell me what you know!!" and she's like, "i have no idea what you're talking about." then it turns out he's from a magical and/or secret society and she's the missing key to solving some prophecy or crime, and she's been hiding her entire life et cetera et cetera. he's a brooding dark antihero (sort of) with a secret soft spot. she's a good girl whose entire being is kindness and light. it's overdone, to say the least.

i didn't like how their relationship formed either—he's very pushy and aggressive when they first meet, and she's always thanking him for the most miniscule things. the scene where she finds out she's a golem, and he's literally walking through her is so creepy and violating to read. and then the first 30% is entirely miscommunication. i can tolerate a little stupidity, but she's been telling him for one-third of the book that she doesn't know what he's looking for!! one-third!! the big reveal that she's a golem takes place at one-third of the book!! the plot doesn't get any better after the reveal, either. i know people have always complained about fantasy characters that randomly become powerful with no training, but this is the other side of that coin, and it's equally aggravating. the rest of the book is her learning to control her powers, her learning to love her golem-y aspects, and her loving her family/community. there is very little action, with the exception of a single explosive confrontation taking place near the end.

also, i want to talk about jett. she's as archetypal as anyone else, but i naturally gravitate towards ambitious, powerful female characters. she was probably my favorite, but then her entire character was ruined with the "she's in love with thorne" thing. she was so interesting, but of course, she had to be reduced down to being a jealous bitch. is it so hard to leave cunty women alone...

anyway, this is three stars for the worldbuilding, one star for everything else.

I loved Woven from Clay. This captivating contemporary fantasy intertwines themes of identity, belonging, and self-discovery. The story follows Terra Slater, a high school senior whose life takes an unexpected turn when she discovers she is a golem—crafted from mud and magic by close friend of the family, much loved community member and warlock, Cyrus Quill.

This tale breathes new life into the golem mythos. The narrative is heartfelt and emotional, offering a profound exploration of what it means to be human through Terra's journey. As she struggles with her newfound identity and the revelation of her origins, readers are invited into the emotional turmoil and questions of friendships and family. The "who am I, where do I fit in?" plus magic! Count me in.

The character development is delightful and believable. Terra's evolution from an ordinary teenager to someone who must master the magic that binds her is portrayed with real angst and authenticity. Her relationship with Thorne Wilder, the mysterious boy sent to ensure her demise, adds higher levels to the average teen age relationship. Their alliance is at times tense but often comes with unexpected camaraderie, and eventually an unexpected but compelling partnership with Terra's very existence hanging in the balance! The plot is well-paced, and had me coming back for more every chance I got.

In summary, Woven from Clay is a poignant and enchanting tale that dives into themes of identity and self-acceptance. Jennifer Birch has crafted a narrative that is both thought-provoking and entertaining, that I say is a must-read for fans of contemporary fantasy.

Woven From Clay is a poetic, emotional journey about self-discovery and cultural identity. Birch’s writing is lyrical and deeply moving, making it a standout read.

Solidly 4/5. I enjoyed the plot- read the book thing in one sitting. It's a page turner, and very enjoyable, though the plot twists were somewhat predictable.

It's a very solid YA book. Likable main characters, interesting magic system, compelling plot and good character growth. I thought the magic was very smart and I loved finding out how it worked. I loved how all the golem kids had earth-themed names from different cultures although it made who was a golem little bit predictable.

I honestly hope there's a sequel. I feel like Terra's story is far from over and I would love to see how she is doing. She was my favorite part of the book. I felt like she was such a 3-dimensional character and I really rooted for her.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.